In today’s Quick Hits, Twitter and Facebook get failing grades in security, thoughts on how the election may change the possibility of new privacy legislation, and plans for stricter privacy laws in the European Union.

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Facebook Friends Help Politicians Get Elected

This article from the Los Angeles Times technology blog discusses how Facebook accurately predicted the winners in 74% of the House of Representatives races and 82% of the Senate races. According to Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes, “The data, while not fail-proof, signifies the increasing role that social media sites like Facebook play in both mobilizing voters and predicting election results.”

Facebook Answers Congress Inquiry Over User ID Controversy

Not long after the Wall Street Journal revealed that several of Facebook’s top applications developers were passing along Facebook User IDs to third-party advertisers and data mining companies, several Congressional leaders requested a statement from the company clarifying the issue. In Facebook’s public response, Marne Levine, Facebook’s vice president of global public policy, said “”The sharing of UIDs by Facebook with third-party applications does not involve the sharing of any private user data and is in no sense a privacy ‘breach.’ On the contrary, the sharing of UIDs is critical to people’s ability to use third-party applications on the Facebook Platform.”

Levine did acknowledge that Facebook took action against the developers who knowingly shared and sold UID data to data brokers, saying, “”We identified fewer than a dozen developers that were intentionally sharing UIDs with a data broker…this is the first instance in which we have learned of such activity, and, as noted, we have taken decisive enforcement action.”

With Elections Over, How Will Privacy Policy Change in Congress?

Speaking of Congress, now that the Republican Party has a majority in the House of Representatives and a stronger representation in the Senate, how will Internet privacy concerns be treated? This article from Cecilia Kang of the Washington Post discusses how some are worried about privacy legislation now that long-time privacy advocate Rick Boucher (D-Va) has lost his Senate seat. Citing privacy analysts, the article suggests that increased consumer awareness of privacy and data concerns will make the issue a priority for both Democrats and Republicans and that new legislation could still be coming, even without Boucher’s leadership.

European Union Wants Stronger Privacy Laws

According to a Reuters report, “The European Union (EU) wants stronger privacy rules to give Internet users more control over how social-networking sites such as Facebook, or search engines such as Google use their personal information.” The new rules could be written as soon as next year and would replace the EU’s existing privacy legislation, which is 15 years old. Europeans have traditionally shown more concern over privacy issues than American citizens, particular with regard to Internet technology.

Facebook and Twitter Get “F’s” in Online Security

A “digital think tank” called Digital Society recently ranked top websites for its Online Services Security Report Card. Facebook and Twitter were among the numerous websites that earned a failing grade according to the report, which analyzed how vulnerable each website was to a possible security breach.